Rotary vane-type gas-compressor

ABSTRACT

In a rotary vane-type gas compressor having an outer casing and a stator provided with a rotatable round rotor, a chamber for cooling the stator is formed between the compression side peripheral wall of the stator and the outer casing, a baffle plate is disposed below the stator so as to form a part of the gas passage. The inlet aperture of the casing and the suction port of the cylinder are connected by way of the cooling chamber and the gas passage below the stator. The baffle plate separates oil particles from the gas flow.

United States Patent [191 Nakayama et a1.

[451 Mar. 19, 1974 ROTARY VANE-TYPE GAS-COMPRESSOR [75] Inventors: Shozo Nakayama; Masayuki Kurahashi; Mitsuhiro Hattori, all of Kariya, Japan [73] Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki Seisakusho, Kariya-shi,

Aichi-ken. Japan [22] Filed: Apr. 2, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 130,716

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 7, 1970 Japan 45-29685 [52] US. Cl. 418/85, 418/100 [51] Int. Cl F016 21/04, F04C 29/02 [58] Field of Search 418/83, 86, 88, 85, 95-101; 62/84, 85, 470, 471; 55/421, 438, 452

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,029,309 6/1912 Miles 418/97 2314056 3/1943 Sobek 3.485.179 12/1969 Dawes 418/86 2.942.774 6/1960 Blackman 418/86 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 293,228 12/1953 Switzerland 418/88 588,720 2/1959 ltaly 116.014 10/1942 Australia 418/97 Primary Examiner-Carlton R. Croyle Assistant Examiner-John J. Vrablik Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert E. Burns; Egnmanuel J. Lobato [57] ABSTRACT In a rotary vane-type gas compressor having an outer casing and a stator provided with a rotatable round ro- 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENIEMAR I9 new: 3397.972

sum 1 0r 4 PAIENTEDMAR 1 9 i974 3797.972

SHEET u [If 4 F I 1 V V z m z |5 20 Q! ROTARY VANE-TYPE GAS-COMPRESSOR BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present application is a co-pending application, Ser. No. 41,128, filed on May 25, 1970, now abandoned, and relates to an improved gas-compressor, and more particularly relates to an improvement of the rotary vane-type gas compressor in which heat created upon the stator is partially absorbed by suction gas and oil particles contained in the suction gas are separated by utilizing inertia thereof when the suction gas flows outside the stator.

Generally, in the conventional gas compressor a suction inlet is formed upon an outer casing facing an outer wall of the stator at the compression side thereof and a discharging outlet is formed upon a rear housing. Consequently, the stator wall of the compression side is remarkably heated so that the temperature of the compression side stator wall is highly elevated by heat of the compressed gas while the temperature of the suction side cylinder wall is maintained at or below normal temperature by the suction gas which absorbs heat from the stator wall. By the above-mentioned partial difference of temperature between the compression side and the suction side of the stator wall, which creates thermal strain of the stator wall, the sealing effect between the vane and the inside cylindrical wall of the stator is lowered so that working efficiency of the compressor falls.

The principal object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawback of the conventional gas compressor.

In the improved vane-type gas compressor according to the present invention, a chamber is formed between an outer casing of the compressor and a compression side outer wall of the stator so as to cool the outer stator wall by the suction gas which is led therein, and a guide passage of the suction gas is formed between a lower outside wall of the stator and a baffle plate disposed under the stator so that oil particles contained in the. suction gas are separated from the suction gas stream by mainly utilizing the interia of the gas particles towards the tangential direction of the outside stator wall.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the ensuing description with reference to the accompanying drawings to which the scope of the invention is no way limited.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side-sectional view of a rotary vane-type gas compressor according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the compressor in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the compressor taken along line III-III of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the suction side portion of the cylinder shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the cylinder taken along line V-V of FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is an elevational'view of the compression side portion of the cylinder shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings, a preferable embodiment of the gas compressor according to the present invention will be hereinafter explained. As the compression mechanism of the gas compressor shown in FIG. 1 is similar to the embodiment illustrated in the above-mentioned co-pending application, Ser. No. 41,128, the detailed illustration of the compression mechanism is omitted. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a stator 2, is mounted in an outer casing 1 provided with a bulge portion la which forms an oil reserve chamber 3. A front housing 4 closes a front side circular aperture of the stator 2, and a pressure housing 7 and a rear housing 9 close a rear side circular aperture of the stator 2, respectively. A front pressure plate 5 is disposed between the front housing 4 and the stator 2 so as to close the stator 2, while a rear pressure plate is disposed between the pressure housing 7 and the stator 2 so as to close the stator 2. The stator 2 is rigidly mounted inside the casing 1 by way of the housings 4 and 7, together with a rear housing 9. A drive shaft 8 is rotatably supported by a pair of bearings mounted on the front and rear pressure housings 4 and 7. A round rotor 10 is rotatably mounted within the stator 2 and is mounted upon the drive shaft 8 with a spline connection. Rotating center of the round rotor 10 is located in an upper eccentric position as to the center point of the stator 2. Multiple slots 10a are radially bored around the outer periphery of the rotor 10 forming a symmetrical arrangement as to its center point as shown in FIG. 3. Multiple vanes 12 are slidably disposed in these radial slots 10a and their outer tip ends are slidably abutted against the inside peripheral surface of the stator 2. The inner tip ends of the multiple vanes are slidably and rotatably supported by a pair of receiving rings 22a and 22b and actuated in the radial direction of the rotor. These receiving rings 22a and 22b are provided in both circular recesses 25a and 25b bored in both end walls of the rotor and rotatably held by the inner ends of the multiple vanes 12 in substantially concentric relationship as to the stator 2 but in an eccentric relationship as to the center point of the rotor 10 so that a compression chamber 11 is formed as shown in FIG. 3. The receiving rings 22a and 22b are previously elastically deformed so as to be inscribed in the inner ends of the multiple vanes for slidably contacting the inside peripheral surface of the stator '2 by their outer ends.

The passage of suction gas in the compressor is shown in FIG. 3. A partially cut-out portion is formed at the inside wall of the casing 1 so as to face the compression side peripheral wall of the stator 2. Consequently a space is formed between the casing 1 and the stator 2. This space is referred to as flow chamber 13. The flow chamber 13 is directly connected to a suction inlet 14 formed on the casing 1 so that the chamber 13 is used as a portion of the passage for suction gas. The peripheral wall of the stator 2 in the chamber 13 is cutout so as to form a plurality of fins 15 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, so that the cooling effect of the stator 2 is enhanced. A baffle plate 16 is disposed in the bulge portion 1a along the peripheral wall of the stator 2 so that the space between the stator 2 and the inside wall of the bulge portion 1a is divided into two spaces and the upper space is directly connected to the chamber 13 so as to form the passage for the suction gas. This portion of the passage is designated as 17. The baffle plate 16 is provided with a plurality of small apertures 18 passing therethrough, at a half left side portion thereof in FIG. 3, so that the upper space, that is the passage 17 is connected to the lower space in the bulge portion la of the casing I. This lower space is substantially the oil reserve chamber 3. The baffle plate 16 is made of a thin elastic plate which is capable of bending so that the plate 16 can be firmly set by engaging its ends to a pair of protrusions 19 projected from the inside wall of the casing 1. Instead of applying the above-mentioned baffle plate 16, a plate made of a porous sheet material permeable to oil may be used. The stator 2 is provided with an aperture or suction port at the suction side portion thereof as shown in FIG. 3.

The suction port 20 communicates with the passage 17 for the suction gas. A discharge conduit 21a, which is shown in FIG. 2, is connected to a discharge port 21 formed in the rear pressure plate 6 and connected to a compression side upper portion of the compression chamber 11, as shown in FIG. 3.

Hereinafter, characteristic functions of the gas compression cycle of the compressor according to the present invention will be explained in detail; as previously described, the suction gas, for example, the refrigerant, delivered to the suction inlet 14, is led into the flow chamber 13. The refrigerant absorbs heat from the compressionside of the peripheral wall of the stator 2, which is provided with the fins 15, while passing through the flow chamber 13. The refrigerant is led to the passage 17 from the chamber 13 and as the chamber 13 forms a curved passage along the peripheral surface of the stator 2, the refrigerant tends to be impacted upon the baffle plate 16 in accordance with the inertia of the flowing gas so that oil particles contained in the refrigerant and which are comparatively heavy, are separated from the gas flow and pass through the small apertures 18 of the baffle plate 16 and are dropped into the oil reserve chamber 3. The refrigerant, from which the oil particles are separated, is led to the suction port 20 by way of the passage 17 so that it is supplied to the compression chamber 11. Then, the refrigerant is gradually compressed by the action of vanes 12 in accordance with the rotation of the round rotor 10, and finally discharged from the discharging port 21 so as to be delivered to means for refrigeration.

As illustrated above, in the gas-compressor according to the present invention, the suction gas is firstly led into the chamber formed about the compression side peripheral surface of the stator so as to positively cool the surface of the stator. Consequently, temperature of each portion of the stator is uniformly maintained so that undesirable deformation or strain of the stator caused by the partial elevation of temperature can be prevented. Therefore, the sealing effect between the inside cylindrical wall of the stator and the vanes can be perfectly attained.

It is a further distinct feature of the gas compressor according to the present invention, that the oil particles contained in the refrigerant are effectively separated therefrom as mentioned above so that the compression efficiency can be remarkably elevated.

Further, a guide passage for the suction gas from the suction inlet to the suction port is formed as mentioned above and the pulsation of the suction gas can be remarkably weakened so that noise due to the pulsation is effectively eliminated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rotary vane gas compressor having a gas compression cycle for compressing gas: an outer casing having therein means defining an oil reserve chamber containing therein oil during use of the gas compressor: a stator mounted in said outer casing and having therein means defining both a suction intake port defining the beginning of the gas compression cycle for intaking gas and a discharge port defining the termination of the gas compression cycle for discharging compressed gas; a rotor rotatably and eccentrically mounted in said stator and having therein means defining a plurality of radially extending slots; a plurality of vanes slidably disposed in respective ones of said slots and coacting with said stator during rotation of said rotor to compress the gas delivered to said suction intake port and deliver same as compressed gas to said discharge port; means defining a suction inlet in said outer casing receptive of a gas to be compressed having suspended therein oil particles during use of the gas compressor; means defining a flow chamber disposed between said stator and said oil reserve chamber extending along the compression side outer surface of said stator and providing communication between said suction inlet and said suction intake port; and separating means disposed upstream from said suction intake port for effecting separation of the oil particles from the gas during flow of the gas through said flow chamber and transfer of the oil particles to said oil reserve chamber prior to compression of the gas.

2. An improved rotary vane gas compressor according to claim 1, wherein said separating means comprises a plate disposed in said flow chamber between said stator and said oil reserve chamber and comprising a portion of said flow chamber and disposed in the flow path of the gas to effect impacting of the oil particles thereagainst and depositing of the oil particles thereon thereby separating the oil particles from the gas, said plate made of an oil permeable material whereby the oil particles impacted and deposited on said plate are transferred to said oil reserve chamber by permeating through said plate.

3. An improved rotary vane gas compressor according to claim 1, wherein said separating means comprises a plate disposed in said flow chamber between said stator and said oil reserve chamber and comprising a portion of said flow chamber and disposed in the flow path of the gas to effect impacting of the oil particles thereagainst and depositing of the oil particles thereon thereby separating the oil particles from the gas, said plate having therein means defining a plurality of of apertures for transferring therethrough the oil particles to said oil reserve chamber.

4. An improved rotary vane gas compressor according to claim 3, wherein said stator has an outside convex surface and said plate comprises a curved plate with a concave surface disposed generally parallel to said convex surface of said stator thereby defining a generally curved flow chamber.

5. An improved rotary vane gas compressor according to claim 4, wherein said means defining said plurality of apertures comprises means defining a plurality of apertures only in the upstream half of said plate and the other half of said plate is devoid of said apertures. 

1. In a rotary vane gas compressor having a gas compression cycle for compressing gas: an outer casing having therein means defining an oil reserve chamber containing therein oil during use of the gas compressor; a stator mounted in said outer casing and having therein means defining both a suction intake port defining the beginning of the gas compression cycle for intaking gas and a discharge port defining the termination of the gas compression cycle for discharging compressed gas; a rotor rotatably and eccentrically mountEd in said stator and having therein means defining a plurality of radially extending slots; a plurality of vanes slidably disposed in respective ones of said slots and coacting with said stator during rotation of said rotor to compress the gas delivered to said suction intake port and deliver same as compressed gas to said discharge port; means defining a suction inlet in said outer casing receptive of a gas to be compressed having suspended therein oil particles during use of the gas compressor; means defining a flow chamber disposed between said stator and said oil reserve chamber extending along the compression side outer surface of said stator and providing communication between said suction inlet and said suction intake port; and separating means disposed upstream from said suction intake port for effecting separation of the oil particles from the gas during flow of the gas through said flow chamber and transfer of the oil particles to said oil reserve chamber prior to compression of the gas.
 2. An improved rotary vane gas compressor according to claim 1, wherein said separating means comprises a plate disposed in said flow chamber between said stator and said oil reserve chamber and comprising a portion of said flow chamber and disposed in the flow path of the gas to effect impacting of the oil particles thereagainst and depositing of the oil particles thereon thereby separating the oil particles from the gas, said plate made of an oil permeable material whereby the oil particles impacted and deposited on said plate are transferred to said oil reserve chamber by permeating through said plate.
 3. An improved rotary vane gas compressor according to claim 1, wherein said separating means comprises a plate disposed in said flow chamber between said stator and said oil reserve chamber and comprising a portion of said flow chamber and disposed in the flow path of the gas to effect impacting of the oil particles thereagainst and depositing of the oil particles thereon thereby separating the oil particles from the gas, said plate having therein means defining a plurality of of apertures for transferring therethrough the oil particles to said oil reserve chamber.
 4. An improved rotary vane gas compressor according to claim 3, wherein said stator has an outside convex surface and said plate comprises a curved plate with a concave surface disposed generally parallel to said convex surface of said stator thereby defining a generally curved flow chamber.
 5. An improved rotary vane gas compressor according to claim 4, wherein said means defining said plurality of apertures comprises means defining a plurality of apertures only in the upstream half of said plate and the other half of said plate is devoid of said apertures. 